Collins suggested that the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, is exactly like the Canadian single-payer Medicare system. While Obamacare is many things, many of which are open to debate and criticism, one thing it decidedly is not is anything resembling what Canadians enjoy*.

He went on to say that he hopes that Romney becomes President, and that that Republicans maintain their House majority, and add three Senate seats so that they can “completely” dismantle and repeal Obamacare. In its place, Collins suggested insurer competition across state lines, and minimizing injured patients’ access to the courts to seek redress for medical malpractice. Both of these “solutions” would hardly put a ding in the overwhelming cost of health care in this country, and would do absolutely nothing to guarantee universal coverage, or to shut the emergency room-as-primary care payment budget hole that our taxes fill.

Established a non-profit group, that the government doesn’t directly control, PCORI, to study different kinds of treatments to see what works better and is the best use of money. ( Citation: Page 684, sec. 1181)

Requires chain restaurants like McDonalds display how many calories are in all of their foods, so people can have an easier time making choices to eat healthy. ( Citation: Page 518, sec. 4205 )

Creates a “high-risk pool” for people with pre-existing conditions. Basically, this is a way to slowly ease into getting rid of “pre-existing conditions” altogether. For now, people who already have health issues that would be considered “pre-existing conditions” can still get insurance, but at different rates than people without them. ( Citation: Page 49, sec. 1101, Page 64, sec. 2704, and Page 65, sec. 2702 )

Forbids insurance companies from discriminating based on a disability, or because they were the victim of domestic abuse in the past (yes, insurers really did deny coverage for that) ( Citation: Page 66, sec. 2705 )

Renews some old policies, and calls for the appointment of various positions.

Forbids health insurance companies from telling customers that they won’t get any more coverage because they have hit a “lifetime limit”. Basically, if someone has paid for health insurance, that company can’t tell that person that he’s used that insurance too much throughout his life so they won’t cover him any more. They can’t do this for lifetime spending, and they’re limited in how much they can do this for yearly spending. ( Citation: Page 33, sec. 2711 )

A credit program is made that will make it easier for business to invest in new ways to treat illness by paying half the cost of the investment. (Note – this program was temporary. It already ended) ( Citation: Page 849, sec. 9023 )

A limit is placed on just how much of a percentage of the money an insurer makes can be profit, to make sure they’re not price-gouging customers. (Citation: Page 41, sec. 1101 )

A limit is placed on what type of insurance accounts can be used to pay for over-the-counter drugs without a prescription. Basically, your insurer isn’t paying for the Aspirin you bought for that hangover. ( Citation: Page 819, sec. 9003 )

What the ACA really amounts to is a consumer protection act. While Collins and his ilk will call this a job-killing tax on the middle class, or something, it really amounts to a prohibition against insurance companies from engaging in predatory practices against its ratepayers. It provides better protections for consumers.

The question is – why does Chris Collins want to repeal all of the consumer protections that have gone into effect?

Collins also suggested that an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts should be extended to all Americans, including him and those like him with millions in income. The Obama plan would extend those tax cuts only to the middle class, and revert back to Clinton-era, pre-9/11 rates for those making more than $250,000 per year.

5 Responses to “Chris Collins: Repeal Consumer Protections”

Contrary to Collins and the rest of the right Canadians are quite satisfied with their health care system. I worked in Niagara Falls for 10 years and we had many Canadian employees that commuted across the border. They would never consider trading their system for ours and were surprised how little Amereicans recieved for their dollars. We also had American citizens that married Canadians, they were the most supportive of the Canadian system having had experience on both sides of the border.

Wow. 94% of Americans are happy that they (as a cohort, older and wealthier) can get other people (as a cohort, younger and poorer) to pay for their medical care. Who’da thunk it?

“An increase in the rebates on drugs people get through Medicare (so drugs cost less)”

It’s funny to watch a lawyer, whose trade is in precision of language, say silly shit like “so drugs cost less” when it would be far more accurate to say “so the cost of drugs is shifted to someone else”.

“Allows children to continue to be covered by their parents’ health insurance until they’re 26. ”

Why is extending childhood for Americans a good thing? I would suggest treating them like adults sooner, rather than later.

(A few notes: Collins is a type A a-hole; Obamacare is not completely evil; I’m just pointing out a few bits of silliness in the overall rant)